Air conditioning apparatus



Oct. 8, 1946. A. H. EBERHART AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6,1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 Plant INVENTOR nmua h. Essa/mar.

AQZZRNEY Get 3946. EBERH-ART 7 2,408,972

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 6, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORHRTHUR H. EBERHFI RT.

55 BY 7? W h ATTORNEY- I Patented Oct. 8, 1946 AIR CONDITIONINGAPPARATUS Arthur H. Eberhart, Springfield, Mass, assignor toWestinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a. corporationof Pennsylvania Application December 6, 1944, Serial No. 566,797

Claims.

My invention relates to an air conditioning unit of'the type adapted tobe mounted on the window sill of a room.

One object of my invention is to produce an improved unit of the typeset forth,

Another object of my invention is to produce an improved airconditioning unit which is capable of being readily adjusted tocondition and recirculate room air only, to introduce conditionedoutside air only to the room, to condition a mixture of outside air androom air and deliver the conditioned mixture to the room, or to exhaustair from the room to the outside atmosphere.

Another object of my invention is to produce an air conditioning unitwhich can be adjusted to effect the various air flows above set forth bythe manipulation or setting of a single readily accessible control knobor handle.

Another object of my invention is to produce an inexpensive constructionfor attaining the foregoing objects.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparentfrom the following description and claims taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view, partly in top plan and partly inhorizontal section, of an air conditioning unit embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the unit shown in Fig. 1, the view beingapproximately on line II-II of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views illustrating three positions ofthe dampers for controlling the air flow through the unit.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, I illustrate a refrigeration systemincluding an evaporator it, a compressor I2 and a condenser 14. Theliquid refrigerant flows from the condenser to the evaporator through apipe it of small diameter and the evaporated refrigerant is sucked fromthe evaporator by the compressor through a pipe it. The compressedrefrigerant gas flows through a pipe 29 to the condenser where it iscooled, liquefied and returned to the evaporator in the well-knownmanner. A motor M drives a condenser fan 22 for blowing air over thecondenser, and an evaporator fan 24 for blowing air over the evaporator.I

The refrigerating system above described is mounted on or in a traywhich may be secured directly to the sill 26 of a window, or to othersupporting means forming part of, or carried by the window structure.The tray includes a bottom wall 23, side flanges 30 and 32, and frontand rear flanges 34 and 36. A removable decorative cover including a topwall 38, side walls 48 and 42, and front and rear walls 44 and 46,coacts with the tray to form a casing completely enclosing therefrigerating apparatus. The casing is divided transversely by apartition 48 to form an outer compartment extending into, or in thedirection of, the outside atmosphere, and an inner compartment extendinginto, or in the direction of, a room the air of which is to beconditioned. The partition 48 extends upwardly from the bottom wall 28of the tray to Within a short distance of the top wall 38 of thedecorative cover. As will be seen from Fig, 1, the outer compartmenthouses the compressor, the condenser, the motor M and the condenser fan22. The inner compartment houses the evaporator, the fan 24 and otherparts which will be later described. The inner compartment is alsoprovided with a-top wall 50, which coacts with the top wall 38 of thedecorative cover to form a passage 52, and a front wall 56 which coactswith the front wall 44 of the decorative cover to form a passage 56. Thepassage 52 and. passage 56 communicate with the room through an inlet58. The outer end of the passage 52 communicates with the top of theouter compartment, as clearly shown in Figs. 3

The side wall 42 of the decorative cover adjacent the blower 22 isprovided with an'outside air inlet through which the condenser fan22,under certain conditions of operation, draws outside air for cooling therefrigerant gas flowing through the condenser. The condenser fan isadapted simultaneously to draw outside air through an opening 62 inregistration with the compressor 50 that the air drawn through theopening 52 serves to cool the compressor. Under other conditions ofoperation, the condenser fan is also adapted to draw air from the room.The air moved by the condenser fan 22, be it drawn through either orboth of the. openings 60 and 62, or from the room in a mannerhereinafter explained, is blown over the condenser and is discharged tothe outside atmosphere through an outlet 64.

The evaporator fan 24 is provided with a spiral shroud 66, the dischargeend of which leads to the bottom of the evaporator, as best shown inFig. 2. The air blown over the evaporator is discharged to the roomthrough an outlet 88 which is preferablyprovided with a grille H3. Thefront Wall 54 of the inner compartment is provided with a fan inlet 12communicating with the passage 56 through a suitable filter l4.

In order to direct and regulate the flow 'of air 3 conditioned by theunit thus far described, I provide a damper I5 for controlling the inlet58, a damper I8 for controlling the passage 52, and a damper 80 forcontrolling the outside air inlet 80. Also, I so construct and arrangethe dampers and their adjuncts that they are all adjusted to the desiredposition by a simple movement of a single, readily accessible controlknob 84. As shown, the damper I8 is hinged to a suitable support 88 andis biased to a position Opening the inlet 58 by a spring 88. The damperI8 is hinged to a suitable support 90 and is biased to a positionclosing the passage 52 by a spring 92.

In order to move the dampers I6 and I8 against the action of theirrespective springs, and in order simultaneously to regulate the positionof the damper 80, I provide an actuating arm 94 which includes ahorizontal portion 90 and a pendant vertical portion 98. The horizontalportion 98 extends through guide slots I80 formed in the front and rearwalls of the inner compartment, and the vertical portion 98 extendsdownwardly through the passage 55. The actuating arm is connected to oneend of a chain or other flexible element I02, the other end of which issecured to a pulley I04 on a shaft I06 rotatable by the knob 84. Theouter end of the horizontal portion of the actuating arm is connected bya, pivoted link I08 to the damper 80. The actuating arm as a whole isbiased to the right as viewed in Figs. 3 to 5, by a spring I I 0. Thelower end of the vertical portion 98 of the actuating arm abuts againstthe damper I6 in all positions of said arm. The shaft I06 is providedwith one or more friction washers, not shown, for retaining the shaft inany position to which it is adjusted.

The-horizontal portion 96 of the actuating arm is also connected to oneend of a chain or other flexible element II2 which passes between guiderolls I I4 and the other end of which is connected to one end of a leverIIG, the other end of which is secured to the damper I8.

By turning the knob 84 so as to rotate the shaft I 06 incounterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figs. 3 to 5, the chain I02 ispartly wound upon the pulley I04 and .the arm 94 is thus pulled to theleft, against the action of the spring I I0, The vertical portion 98 ofthe arm is now somewhat retracted from the damper I6 and permits thespring 88 to open the damper I6 to a corresponding extent, as shown inFig. 3.

Further rotation of the shaft I05 in counterclockwise direction, furtherwinds the chain I02 on the pulley I04. This moves the arm 84 stillfurther to the left and further retracts the vertical portion 88 thereofso that the spring 88 moves the damper 16 to its fully open position, asshown in Fig. 5.

By turning the knob 84 so as to rotate the shaft I06 in clockwisedirection, the chain I02 is unwound from the pulley I04, thus permittingthe spring I I to move the arm 94 to the right. The spring IIO beingstronger than the spring 88, the vertical portion 98 of the arm movesthe damper I in a direction to close the inlet 58.

The movement of the arm 94is transmitted to the damper I8 through thechain H2 and to the damper 80 through the link I08. Thus, if the arm 94is moved sufliciently to the right, the dampers I8 and 80 are moved totheir respective fully open positions, as shown in Fig. 4. If the arm 94is moved sufliciently to the left, the damper I8 is opened and thedamper 80 is closed, as shown in Fig. 5.

While in Fig. 4 the arm 84 is shown in its ex- 4 treme right-handposition, and in Fig. 5, the arm is shown in its extreme left-handposition, it will be understood that intermediate adjustments of the armcan be effected by appropriate rotation of the knob 84.

For example, in the intermediate position of the arm 94 illustrated inFig. 3, the dampers I6 and are partly open, the chain I I2 is slack andthe damper I8 is closed by the spring 92.

Operation When it is desired to condition and recirculate room air only,the knob 84 is rotated to a position indicated on an index plate, notshown, to adjust the parts as shown in Fig. 3. In this posi tion, theevaporator fan 24 draws room air through the inlet 58 and filter I4,passes the air over the evaporator and discharges it into the roomthrough the grille I0. Also, in this position, thedamper 80 is in partlyopen position and the condenser fan 22 draws outside air through theopenings 60 and 82 and discharges it over the condenser and through theoutlet 64. The path of flow of the air is indicated by the arrows inFigs. 1 and 3.

When it is desired to introduce conditioned, outside air only into theroom, the knob 84 is rotated to another indicated position to adjust theparts as shown in Fig. 4, in which the damper I6 is in a position fullyclosing the inlet 58, the damper I8 is in a position in which thepassage 52 is unobstructed and, the damper 80 is in full open position.The evaporator fan 24 now draws outside air through the opening 80, thepassage 52 and the filter I4, passes it over the evaporator anddischarges it into the room. The full opening of the damper 80 permitsadmission of enough air to satisfy the requirements of both thecondenser fan 22 and the evaporator fan 24. The path of flow of the airis indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4.

A mixture of room air and outside air, in various proportions, forconditioning, may be obtained by rotating the knob 84 to bring the arm94 to a suitable position intermediate the positions shown in Figs. 3and 4. Upon moving the arm 94 to the left from the position shown inFig. 3, the damper I8 gradually opens, to provide an increasing amountof outside air, and the damper I8 gradually closes, to reduce the amountof room air and to transfer the suction effect of the evaporator fan 24to induce the flow of outside air through the passage 52 past the damperI8. When the position of Fig. 4 is reached, the admission of room airhas been reduced substantially to zero and the outside air has beenincreased substantially to per cent.

When it is desired to exhaust air from the room, the control knob 84 isrotated to still another indicated position, to bring the parts to theposition shown in Fig. 5 in which the dampers I6 and 18 are moved tofull open position. It will be noted that, in this position of theactuating arm, the damper 80 is in its maximum closing position.Therefore, in order to satisfy the requirements of the condenser fan 22,air is drawn from the room, through the inlet 58 and passages 56 and 52,as well as from the outside atmosphere through the inlet 62. The path offlow of the air is partly indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.

If desired, the rod 94 may be omitted and the shaft I06 may be providedwith separate pulleys which will be connected to the dampers I6, I0 and80 by chains or other flexible elements in a manner such as thatillustrated in my prior Patent No. 2,343,122 of February 29, 1944. Also,if desired, the damper 80 may be mounted for sliding movement againstthe side wall 42 instead of the pivoted mounting of the damperillustrated.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications without departing from the spiritthereof.

What I claim is:

1. In a room air conditioning unit, a casing having a first portion anda second portion, a first heat exchanger in said first portion, a secondheat exchanger in said second portion, an outside air inlet foradmitting air from the outside atmosphere to said first portion, an airoutlet leading from said first portion to the outside atmosphere, a fanfor drawing outside air through said outside air inlet into contact withsaid first heat exchanger and discharging it through said outlet to theoutside atmosphere, a room air inlet for admitting air from a room theair of which is to be conditioned to said second portion, a room airoutlet leading from said second portion for discharging air to saidroom, a fan for drawing room air through said room air inlet intocontact with said second heat exchanger and discharging it through saidroom air outlet back into the room, a passage connecting said room airinlet with said outside air inlet and said outside air outlet, and meansfor regulating the flow of outside air or room air into contact witheither of said heat exchangers and into the room or to the outsideatmosphere, comprising a first damper for controlling said outside airinlet, a second damper for controlling said passage, and a third damperfor controlling said room air inlet, and actuating means for positioningsaid dampers, said actuating means and said dampers being so constructedand arranged that, in one position thereof said inlets are open and saidpassage is closed, whereby outside air is circulated around said firstheat exchanger and room air isv circulated around said second heatexchanger, in a second position of said actuating means and said damperssaid room air inlet and said passage are open and said outside air inletis at least partly closed, whereby room air is withdrawn through saidroom air inlet and said passage and discharged to the atmosphere, and,in a third position of said dampers and said actuating means, saidoutside air inlet and said passage are open and said room air inlet isat least partly closed, whereby outside air is drawn through saidoutside air inlet and said passage into contact with said second heatexchanger and is discharged into said room.

2. An air conditioning unit comprising a casing, means dividing saidcasing into an inner compartment and an outer compartment, refrigerantliquefying means disposed in said outer compartment, refrigerantevaporating means disposed in said inner compartment and connected inrefrigerant flow relation to said refrigerant liquefying means, meansproviding a passage connecting said compartments, there being an outsideair inlet leading to said outer compartment, an air outlet leading fromsaid outer compartment to the outside atmosphere, at room air inletleading from a room, the air of which is to be conditioned, to saidinner compartment, and a conditioned air outlet leading from said innercompartment to said room, a first damper for controlling said room airinlet,

6 means biasing said damper to a position in which said room air inletis open, a second damper for controlling said passage, means biasingsaid second damper to a position in which said passage is closed, anactuating member adapted simultaneously to position both of saiddampers, and means biasing said member to a position in which said firstdamper is moved to a positionclosing said room air inlet and said seconddamper is moved to a position in which said passage is open.

3. The structure recited in claim 2 together with a third damper forcontrolling said outside air inlet, and means connecting said thirddamper to said actuating member, said means being so constructed andarranged that said third damper is moved to a position partly or whollyclosing said outside air inlet according to the position of said memberand in predetermined relation to the position of said first and seconddampers.

4. The structure recited in claim 2 in which said actuating member ismovable to three different positions and in which said dampers and saidmember are so constructed and arranged that in one position of saidmember said first damper is partly open and said second damper is fullyclosed, and in a second position of said member said first damper isfully closed and said second damper is fully open, and in a thirdposition of said member said first and said second dampers are open.

5. In a room air conditioning unit, a casing having a first compartmentand a second compartment, a first heat exchanger in said firstcompartment, a second heat exchanger in said second compartment, anoutside air inlet for admitting air from the outside atmosphere to saidfirst compartment, an air outlet leading from said first compartment fordischarging air to the outside atmosphere, a room air inlet foradmitting air from a room to said second compartment, there being adischarge opening leading from said second compartment for dischargingair back to said room, a first fan for drawing air through said outsideair inlet into contact with said first heat exchanger and discharging itthrough said outlet, a second fan far drawing room air through said roomair inlet into contact with said second heat exchanger and dischargingit back into the room through said discharge opening, a wall structuredefining a passage connecting said compartments, and means forcontrolling the flow of outside air and room air into and through one orboth of said compartments and through said passage, said means includinga first damper for controlling said passage, a second damper for,controlling said room air inlet, a member movable through a range ofmovement from a first position to a second position and effectingmovement of said second damper from full open to full closed positionupon movement from its first to its second position, said member andsaid first damper being interconnected so that, when said member is inan intermediate position between said first position and said secondposition and said second damper is partly open, said first damper isclosed and so that, as said member is moved from said intermediateposition to either said first position or said second position, saidfirst damper is moved to open position.

ARTHUR H. EBERHART.

